|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Friday, 21 August 2009 11:34 |
Email hosting is not new and has been around since the Internet launched in 1994. So what differentiates Exchange Online to other email hosting solutions? Well, with Exchange Online you gain all of the email messaging functionality of Exchange 2007 without the deployment and administrative costs of maintaining your own email server(s). Another big advantage to using this service is the guaranteed up-time of 99.9% versus the cost of providing the same guarantee on a server you maintain.
Exchange Online Features:
- Mailbox size configurable to 25 GB
- Shared calendar, contacts, and tasks
- Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 and Outlook 2003 connectivity, including Outlook Anywhere
- Browser-based Outlook Web Access
- Cost-saving "deskless worker" licensing for employees who use a company PC on a limited basis
- Virus/spam filtering via Microsoft ForefrontTM Online Security for Exchange
- Push e-mail, calendar, and contacts with GAL integration and tasks for Windows Mobile® 6.0 and above
- Push e-mail, calendar, and contacts with GAL integration and tasks for Nokia E series and N series and iPhone 2.0 devices
- Multiple support options for BlackBerry users
- Built-in business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities
- Sign In application for single sign-on capability
- Directory Synchronization tool to synchronize on-premise and Microsoft Online Active Directory directory service
- Email coexistence enables customers to maintain both on-premises Exchange Server mailboxes and Exchange Online mailboxes in an integrated email environment.
- Migration tools to help move your current mailbox data into the online environment
Our first impression of Exchange Online was how simple the setup was compared to setting up Exchange 2007. We were also pleased to see that most of the features and functionality that we like to use in Outlook had not been sacrificed in providing this service online. The performance of Outlook 2007 while connected to an Exchange Online server using the Outlook Anywhere functionality of Exchange 2007 was impressive.
The inclusion of Outlook Web Access (OWA) to the service offering was a welcome relief and to be honest, with the improvements of OWA 2007 over OWA 2003, we find ourselves using OWA more often than Outlook 2007.
So, whether you're a business with 5 users or 5000 users, Exchange Online is definitely worth a second look, and worthy of inclusion in any messaging solution.
|
Resources 